Die-fitting apparatus



May 15, 1928. 1,669,845

w. A. VALENTINE DIE FITTING APPARATUS Filed March 13, 1.926 x 2 Sheets-Sheet l 0 .n I if E!- d FIG. 2

FIG. I

INVENTOR. WILLlFlM A. VALENTINE May 15, 1928..

W. A. VALENTINE Filed March 13, 1926 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. WILLIAM A. VALENTINE BY Q Z [5 c ATTORNEY.

Patented May 15, 1928.

UNITED s'ra'riazs PATIENT OFFICE;

(WILLIAM a. vannnrmn, or rHILAnnLrnrA, rnnnsrrivanm, assrsnon 'ro EDWARD G. BUDD MANUFACTURING 00., or rnrrannnrnra, PENNSYLVANIA, A conrona- TION OF PENNSYLVANIA.

DIE-FITTING. APPARATUS;

Application filed March 13, 1926. Serial No; 94,408.

This invention relates to die fitting appatus and more particularly to apparatusof the general nature shown and described in my prior Patent No. 1,466,259, dated August 28, 1923, over which patent the present invention may be considered as an improvement. i

As in the prior case, thegeneral object.

of the present invention is to provide an improved apparatus in which heavy steel or the like dies may be accurately fitted together before they are mounted in the die press. In apparatus of the kind in question one of the die members is mounted on the base of the machine while the other die member is secured to a vertically reciprocating block.

This block is raised and lowered by means of screw rods operated by suitable gearing driven by a common transversely extending shaft.

' In my prior patent the die carrying block is suspended fronrthe lower ends of the screw rods in such a manner as to be capable of movement relative thereto, and so that when lowered it simply rests-upon the other die member by gravity' It is found, however, that in practice it is sometimes desirable not .onlyto lower the upper die member down upon the other one, but to positively press it against the same. To this end the present invention contemplates securing the screw rods rigidlyv to the die carrying block so thatthe'block may be moved positively in both directions.

A further specific object of the present invention is to provide means whereby the two sets of gearing o crating the two screw rods maybe angular y adjusted relative to each other so as to more accurately level up the die carrying block when necessary;

ing undue wear yof such guideways. A further ObJGClI of thepresent invention is to provide means for protecting the guideways from such dust, and to this end I equip the apparatus with flexible extensible curtains extending across the face of the guideways and movablewithfthe die carrying block.

In order that the inventionmay, be read-- ily understood, reference is had to the accompanying drawing, iii-which: 1 i Fig. 1 is a front elevation ofmy improved apparatus; l k i Fig. 2 is a side elevation thereof, J Fig; 3 is a vertical fragmentary seetionon an enlarged scale through the gearing opcrating one of the screw rods; i

1 1g. 4 1s a fragmentary long tudinal section on an enlarged scale showing my improved angularly adjustablepcoupling for connecting the two sections of thecommon dr ving shaft; and p section on the line Fig. 5 is a transverse Referring to theydrawings'in detail, my improved die fitting apparatus comprises, as in my. former patent, a suitable base, 1,, a pair of upright columns or posts 2 and a crosshead 3 supported'thereby. A die carrying block tsupports one of the die members 6, while the other die member 7 rests upon the floor or-platform 5 ofthe base. The lower facerof the blockA and the upper face of the platform 5 are provided with T- shaped grooves i jand 5 respectively,adapt ed to receive headedbolts (not shown) for the purpose of attaching the die members thereto. t I

.The block A is provided at its ends with guides. 8 whichenga-ge and. slide on guide-. ways 9 formed onthe inner -faces of the columns 2. i I

The block 1 is raised and lowered by means of a pair of vertically. extending screw rods 10, the lower GndSaOf which are fixedly connectedto the"block-4t, as indicated at 10. The rods 10 extendxupwardly through openings in the crosshead 3 and each works in a nut 11 (seeFig, 3);f 1 This nut rests upon and is rotated by a worm gear 12, having formed integral therewith a down: wardly extending sleeve 13 j onrnalled in the crosshead 3. The gear .12 is supported on anti-friction thrust bearings 14, and the gear and nut are enclosed in a housing comprising a bottom member 15 and a top member or cover 16. It will be understood that the screw rod 10 passes freely up through the interior of the sleeve 13 and is in engagement onl y with the nut 11.

The worm wheels 12 are driven by worms enclosed in housings 19 and mounted upon a transversely extending common driving.

shaft, which, as shown, is formed of two aligned sections 17 and 18. These two sectionsare united at their ends by means of an angularly adjustable coupling designated in its entirety by the numeral 20 in Fig. l, and shown in detail in Figs. 4 and. 5.

The shaft 17, 18 is driven by means of a belt wheel or pulley 21 supported by a bracket 22 and connected to or disconnected from the shaft by means of a suitable clutch 23 operated by ahand lever 2% through the links 24*, 24*, 24 and 24 respectively.

Referring to Figs. 4 and 5, it will be seen that my improved coupling device comprises an internal gear 25 having teeth 26 and keyed to the section 17 of the shaft, as shown 'at 17, andan external gear 27 having teeth 28, and keyed to the section 18 of the shaft,as indicated at 18. The teeth of the internal and external gears 25 and 27 are constructed to snugly intermesh or interlock, as shown in Fig. 5, and the two parts of the coupling are held together by means of guard ring 29 secured to the internal gear by means of screws 80.

It will now be understood that by removing the screws 30 andguard ring 29 and slipping the gear 27 slightly along the shaft until it is disengaged from the gear 25, one of the gears and corresponding shaft section may be given a slight turn or angular displacement relative to the other. In this way the correspondinggear 12 maybe rotated'slightly and thus effect a Very nice adjustment of'one end or the other of the block 4. In practice, I find it convenient to so proportion the parts that a displacement of one tooth of the gears 25 and 27 will produce an adjustment of perhaps one onehundredth of an inch in the block. In this way it is possible to accurately level up the blbck and cause the die members to fit properly.

As in my above mentioned application. I propose to dress or shape the faces of the die members while in position in the apparatus by means of an abrading tool, such as a grinding wheel, conventionally illustrated at 34'in'F 1, and driven in any suitable way. This grinding wheel serves to throw metal particles and emery dust against the face of the guideways 9, and this dust, by reason of the fact that the guideways are oily, adheres to them and interferes with the smooth travel of the block. In order to avoid this difficulty I provide flexible curtains 31, similar to window shades. These curtains are mounted on spring rollers 32 secured to the based of the machine, and are connected at their free ends to the block et, as indicated at 33, so that they move with the block. The curtains are arranged one at each side of the die members'and positioned to extend across the face of the guideways 9. It will be seen that these curtains will effectively intercept the dust thrown off by the grinding wheel and will thus protect the guideways from the effects of such dust.

IVhile I have described the invention with great particularity, it'is clear that it may be modified throughout a wide range. I, therefore, do not propose to be limited to the extact details of construct-ion shown and described, but reserve the right in practice to make any and all modifications thereof that fall within the scope of the appended claims.

\Vhat I claim is 1. In a die fitting apparatus, a base having means to secure thereto one member of the die to be fitted, a vertically sliding block having means to secure thereto the other die men'iber to be fitted, screw rods connected at their ends with said block, gearing for moving said screw rods and block, a common shaft for driving said gearing, said shaft comprising two sections arranged end to end, and interlocking angularly adjustable coupling members secured to the meeting ends of said shaft sections whereby said screw rods may be independently moved so as to effect the horizontal leveling of said vertically sliding block.

2. In a die fitting apparatus, a base having means to secure thereto one member of the die to be fitted, a'vertically sliding block having means to secure thereto the other die member to be fitted, screw rods connected at their ends with said block, gearing for moving said screw rods and block, a common shaft for driving said gearing, said shaft comprising two sections arranged end to end, and an angularly adjustable coupling at the meeting ends of said sections comprising interlocked internal and external toothed gears.

3. In a die fitting apparatus, a base having means to secure thereto one member of the die to be fitted, a pair of vertical guideways located one at each side of said base, a block slidable on said guideways and having means to secure thereto the other die member to be fitted, said block being movable vertically above said base a distance sufiicient to permit the handling therebetween of an abrading tool for dressing the faces of the die members, and an extensible flexible curtain suspended from and moving with said block at each side thereof, said curtains being positioned so as to lie across the face of each guideway between the same and the die members and serving to prevent chips and dust from the abrading tool from being thrown against said guideways.

4. In a die fitting apparatus, relatively movable elements adapted to have secured thereto the respective members of the die to be fitted, and means for moving said elements relative to each other and independent means for effecting horizontal leveling of one of the same.

5. In a die fitting apparatus, a fixed element and a movable element adapted to have secured thereto the respective members of the die to be fitted, means for bodily moving the said movable element toward and away from said fixed element, and independent means permitting movement of a part only of said movable element whereby the same may be leveled with respect to the fixed element.

6. In a die fitting apparatus, relatively movable elements and a common means for effecting such movement, sald means comprising axially aligned shafts having complementally formed internal and external gear members secured upon the meeting ends of said shafts so as to rotate therewith and slide thereon, and a collar surrounding one of said members and detachably secured to the other of said members for rigidly connecting the members together, whereby the said aligned shafts may be actuated together to effect movement of the said relatively movable elements, or they may be moved independently of each other to effect relative adjustment of said relatively movable elements. y

In testimony whereof he hereunto afiixes his signature.

WILLIAM A. VALENTINE. 

